Outdoorsy Sunday

We are being blessed with the most gorgeously glorious weather here at the moment, it really is quite something. I wouldn't say that Spring has arrived yet as it is still terribly cold, but during the past week or so the sky has been oh-so-blue and the sun has been shining it's little heart out, and I've been loving it. Love-love-loving it!

Yesterday (Sunday) we awoke to a frosty, crisp late winters morning, with the aforementioned oh-so-blue sky and sunshine, and we decided to venture out and do Outdoorsy Stuff. It was nothing short of a miracle actually :: all five of us breakfasted, dressed, washed (well three-fifths of the family was washed, the Little People are exceedingly good at avoiding the bathroom these days, the dirty/lazy little tykes) and out the door by nine thirty. Yes, you read that right, Nine Thirty! And on a Sunday too!! Are you impressed?? Cos I most certainly was.

Destination :: Bolton Abbey. Of course. It's our number one choice when we want nearby Easy Countryside, and if you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll have heard me go on about Bolton Abbey on many occasions. Here, here and here for example, and lots of other times besides I expect. We don't ever tire of it here.

This was the first time we've been here with Little B though, so it felt kind of special. Just before Little B arrived, we acquired a very good all-terrain sooper-dooper three wheeler pushchair with sooper-dooper pumped up tyres. It came third-hand from my neighbour for a sooper-dooper good price, and it's errrmmmm.....well Sooper-dooper actually! Yesterday was it's first outing to an all-terrain type of environment and it was brilliant. We went happily up and down all sorts of steep woodland tracks, bumpity bumped up and down steps and ancient bits of tumbled down old Abbey, crossed fields and jiggety-jigged over cattle grates. Little B slept soundly the whole way, which was rather Sooper-dooper too.

It really was a most beautiful morning and it felt reeeeeally good to be out in it, walking in it, looking up at the sky (oh-so-blue) and feeling part of the Outdoorsy World again. I've missed it somewhat.

When we eventually came home (via the cafe for cappuccino and carrot cake and milk tankering activities), I found that I did not want to come inside. I really didn't. Wanted to stay Outside and wanted to continue to do Outdoorsy stuff and wanted to stay under the oh-so-blue sky for as long as possible. So I decided on the spur of the moment to go and buy some flowers and do some lighthearted gardening. A suitably Outdoorsy Sunday activity I thought, and pretty too.

So I bobbed down to my local supermarket and loaded my trolley up with Pretties to bring home. Little pots of narcissi and primulas. Oh so pretty-pretty! I swooned a little when I unloaded them from the back of my car, I just adore buying flowery plantlets en-masse like this, one of life's tremendous pleasures (remember the PPP's from last year?)

The mission :: to prettify my (very sad) hanging baskets at the front of the house.

It turned out to be a lovely thing to do cos Little Lady decided to join me. I swooned a little more at her excited request to help me out and it suddenly seemed an age since we did anything like this together.

We enjoyed ourselves. A lot. I loved that in her excitement she called me Mummy all the time, when usually these days she calls me a more grown up Mum.

Above pics show the Before and After. I let Little Lady do as much of the planting as possible, even though it meant that the end results are a little erm..what shall we say? Unbalanced perhaps? I promise you I'm not a control freak, but ooohh so so hard not to interfere in these matters! I just about managed it. But I might possibly have to fill in the empty gaps with a few more flowers. Just so, you know, so it looks centred and not all-over-to-the-left.

But anyhow, it's certainly a definite improvement on what was there before which was basically a collection of moss and Dead Summer Things.

Yes, a beautiful improvement I think.

Even if it is off centre.

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Comments

[jeane]

oh lucy, arent u got some sunflowers seed? hope to see u grow it also. happy farming ya.

[Darlene]

We've had lovely weather in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, too, sunny and in the 50's. But I sure can't think about planting anything yet!

Enjoy those baskets. I'm glad you were able to control the tendency to correct the wonkiness. Kids grow up so fast, and this is a memory she'll always have. (My daughter will be 33 next month, so I know this from experience.)

[Carole]

Hi Lucy,
Well i never! We were in the same place as you on sunday. I bet we past at some point, lol! We went to the farmer`s market in your town. Then we went to BA, which was quite busy. So we had a ride to Hesketh Farm( have you been?) where we were going to sit & eat out picnic, but doesn`t open til Good Friday hey ho! It was a lovely day tho.Then we ended up at Harlow Carr Gardens.Lovely photos as ever. Love Carole from Rossendale xxxxxx

[Simone]

It's great to get back outdoors isn't it? I need to revamp my hanging baskets too. Mine are filled with dead annuals from last year and look very sad. I think little lady did a great job. The plants will settle and find their own way anyhow. It's nice to find you upbeat Lucy. Let's hope that the temperature lifts so that we can spend more time outdoors! x

[Debbie]

It sounds like a lovely day. Your baskets look pretty too, you have inspired me to do something about my bedraggled baskets.
It is always a pleasure to read your blog Lucy

[Fran]

Ahhh, the feelings of emerging from that new baby bubble.........and on top of the great outdoor adventure some time spent in the garden and with little lady - perfect. What a great Sunday :)

[Jak]

The photos are stunning, I actually felt that I had been on a walkabout too. I still get a thrill when my more-or-less grown-up kids what to 'help' me with something too.
Jak x

[siona]

¡Que verde está todo!, que maravilla de paisajes,
un abrazo,
SIONA

[Amber]

It looks like you had a really lovely day - the stuff the real life is made of!

[Siobhan]

Doesn't the sunshine makes such a difference? We had two lovely mild sunny days last week, followed by sunny but chill ones. It is like that now. It certainly does wake me up! I love your flowers, Little Lady has done a good job there, so pretty.
Bolton Abbey looks wonderful - I'm not surprised it's such a favourite, there are certain places we just have to keep going back to again and again.

[Samm]

Lovely photos Lucy... looks like you had a wonderful day, everytime you look at your new flower basket you will remember your Little Lady helping you no matter how wonky it looks...what a lovely memory...Glad you are all well... Roll on the Spring! I cant wait either... from Sunny Surrey.

[Sarah west midlands]

Dear Lucy I think that little lady made a good job of the hanging basket! I find
that mine often wind up off centre. Isn't
it great when that sun comes out and all that blue sky(it has been just the same in this part of the world.) I also agree with
Shelley"s comments about having a baby
in the winter,reminded me when my second son was born. I really enjoy your posts. So heres to blue skies,walks planting and some crochet(when it gets a bit too chilly).
Love Sarah west mids

[Petit Filoux]

That looks lovely!

[Kimbles]

What a perfect Sunday! Lucy I have now completed decopatch mirror - tore paper this time - really pleased with result! Thanks **kim**x

[Rachel]

What a lovely day out!Special girly time planting too! Sunshiney weather makes us all feel better!
Have a happy day!

[Belinda]

Hi Lucy, what lovely views of the Abbey. My sister got married there last summer - such a beautiful location. She lives in Dubai now so not quite to beautiful or closeby to visit. I think the sunshine this weekend has done us all the world of good - a bit of spring hope after a nasty winter.

[Mandy]

What a lovely, sunny and cheerful post. Thank you so much! What an improvement to your basket!

[Anja]

You took great pics of your blue-skyed day! I really love England and your pics want me to go there instantly! I wish I had such an adorable countryside just around the corner, lucky you!
Lovely baskets!!

[Annegret]

You are great to show us your world with so lovely pictures. It is a pleasure to visit your blog.

Annegret

[Lynne Kovan]

Lovely pictures. Thank you for taking us with you on your day. Would have liked another piece of that carrot cake, delicious! I feel inspired to get out and sort out my sad potss now. Thank you!

[lekki]

and I forgot to add that a few lobelia and alyssum poked in around the lopsided bits of the baskets should add a nice touch, they might even look as if they're planned like that!

[lekki]

Lovely description of your spring activities. Here in NZ it's feeling decidedly autumnish. I always feel that there is no surer sign of spring than having the urge to plant those springy flowers, it seems that the body knows the seasons better than anything else.

[Tammy]

An absolutely lovely day. When the weather is good, it seems a shame to waste it. Lovely flowers! I'm like you when it comes to wanting things to be balanced and arranged. Maybe because I feel off-balance pretty much a lot of the time lately. :) Have a fabulous week! Tammy

[Bethany]

Oh, I laughed at your description of planting flowers with Little Lady! It is hard not to interfere, isn't it? We had a similar scene in our house yesterday with my husband planting an indoor kitchen garden with our little girl. She was so excited and kept a running stream of questions and comments going and we had potting soil from one end of the house to the other! She has been singing to her garden and checking every half hour to see if anything has come up yet.
God's blessings to your lovely family!

[Barbara]

What a wonderful, lovely Sunday you had indeed! Thank you for sharing that with us in pictures. I felt like I was with you.